Video: Jermaine Jenas on the quality of youth football in Nottingham
Former Forest midfielder Jermaine Jenas may have retired from professional football, but he’s far from putting his feet up.
Jenas, who grew up in Clifton, was hoping not to make a big deal about his bow out of the beautiful game, that was until the BBC came calling.
Nothing comes easy and it’s nice for me to come and give them a little reminder sometimes
He said: “I was hoping to just announce my retirement and put it to one side. I didn’t want to do the whole open letter thing where I thank everybody.
“I didn’t initially see myself going down the media route. Match of the Day just kind of happened but I’m loving every minute of it.”
Jenas is currently a regular pundit on the UK’s most popular football show.
The former England international received tributes from fellow professionals, including former team-mate turned Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale.
Premier League Chairman Richard Scudamore was especially generous with his tribute to the midfielder.
“The recognition from the premier league and England was brilliant. I got a letter from Richard Scudamore (Premier League Chairman) congratulating me on my career and he offered a donation to my charity as well on behalf of my career,” added Jenas.
Jermaine told Notts TV that a lot of his time had been taken up doing work with the charity he co-founded, Aquinas, which aims to inspire school children to achieve their dreams.
“We have a lot of schools that we are very close with, we have a good relationship with a lot of staff and headteachers.
“I like to personally come and speak to the kids myself and tell them a bit about how I got to where I am and the pressurised elements that I was in as a player and how I dealt with them.
“They are going through stressful time at the moment with exams and I just want to raise their aspiration levels and make sure they understand how hard it is to achieve what you want to achieve in life.
“Nothing comes easy and it’s nice for me to come and give them a little reminder sometimes. It’s something we do in a lot of schools.
“We try and help the teachers and the schools as much as we possibly can and try and make their life easier.”
You can hear more from Jermaine throughout the week on Notts TV News at 5:30 and 6:00.
